THE DECEASED’S HUSBAND TO TESTIFY TOMORROW
Coroner Lorenzo Hawthorn began the inquest into the death of Mrs. Janine Campbell today by presenting seven prominent and educated men with a long list of admonishments about their responsibilities as jurors. A short discussion of the possibility of suicide, insanity, and the relevance of the Campbell sons’ disappearance was left unresolved, but it was the coroner himself who first raised the subject with one of the witnesses.
The first witness was Dr. Neill Graham, an intern at Bellevue who works part-time for the police ambulance service. Despite pointed questions from the jury, Dr. Graham had only praise for Dr. Anna Savard, the surgeon who tried to save Mrs. Campbell’s life.
The day’s second witness provided compelling testimony and insight into the life and death of Mrs. Campbell. We provide it here in fulfillment of our pledge to bring all the facts of this disturbing case to our readers.
Inquest Testimony
Mrs. Mabel Stone, housewife, resident at 24 Charles Street, appears before Coroner Hawthorn’s jury and makes the following statement.
Coroner: Please start by explaining how you knew the deceased.
Mrs. Stone: The Campbells are our neighbors and have been since they were first married, seven years this summer.
Coroner: You considered her a friend?
Mrs. Stone: I did. Janine Campbell was a no-nonsense kind of person, which I am myself. We saw eye to eye.
Coroner: Did you see her often?
Mrs. Stone: Janine had her hands full from dawn till dark with those little boys and the house. I myself have no children but have always felt the lack, and so I lent a hand wherever I could. I saw her every day, just about. Except Sundays.
Coroner: And now if you could tell us about last week.
Mrs. Stone: Early last Wednesday I went by train to visit my sister in Albany. I was back Thursday morning, and I noticed how quiet it was at the Campbells’ and so I went over to say hello. There was no answer when I knocked so I went around back to see was she hanging out laundry, but she wasn’t. So I looked in the kitchen window.
Coroner: Is this common practice in the neighborhood?
Mrs. Stone: It’s common enough between friendly families. So as I was saying, I looked in the kitchen window, and there she was.
Coroner: This is difficult, I understand, Mrs. Stone. But please be specific. Exactly what did you see?
Mrs. Stone: I saw Janine—Mrs. Campbell—lying on the floor, in a pool of blood.
Coroner: And then?
Mrs. Stone: Well, I went in, of course like anybody would. At first I thought she was dead she was so pale, but when I lifted up her head she opened her eyes. “Easy now,” says I to her. “I’ll send for a doctor.” But she said no, she didn’t want me to.
Coroner: Was she in pain?
Mrs. Stone: Yes sir, in terrible pain, curled up tight with her knees to her chest. Hardly able to talk, but she didn’t want a doctor and she said so. Asked me to help her into bed so she could sleep. And I says to her, “Janine, you are bleeding to beat the band. You’re having a miscarriage and you need a doctor.”
Coroner: How did you know she was having a miscarriage?
Mrs. Stone: Only a man would ask such a question. You don’t get to be my age without seeing miscarriages and worse. Why, I’d seen Janine herself miscarry twice before. Near bled to death the second time, but Mr. Campbell was home. He got the doctor to come and late the next day she was out of bed and back to work. She didn’t have much choice.
Coroner: These are things you witnessed yourself?
Mrs. Stone: Yes. And I saw the doctor come. That gentleman, right there.
Coroner: Let the record reflect that the witness is pointing to Dr. Heath in the gallery. Go on, Mrs. Stone.
Mrs. Stone: As I say, I seen Mrs. Campbell in such a state before, so I knew why she was bleeding. But this time was far worse than the other two, so I says to her again, “I have to send for an ambulance.” And she says, “No, just leave me here. Archer will find me when he gets home.”
Coroner: Those were her exact words?
Mrs. Stone: Exact. But I ran outside and saw the baker’s boy and I told him to run as fast as he could to the Jefferson Market police station—just three blocks away—and tell them we needed an ambulance. And he did.
Coroner: Where were the Campbell children while all this was going on?
Mrs. Stone: I don’t know. I just don’t know. At the time I barely noticed they were gone except to think to myself—I do remember this—thank the Lord they don’t have to see their mam in such a state. But I didn’t ask her. That was my mistake.